Since Arizona State University’s Business of Fashion club first started in 2013, it’s been known amongst students as pretty much the only fashion industry-driven opportunity at the school. Lucky for the club members, and other fashion-obsessed and -eager students, that’s finally changing.
Starting next Fall 2017 semester, Phoenix Art Museum curator Dennita Sewell will be helping to develop the first ever fashion degree in ASU’s School of Art. Students enrolled in the degree will be able to take classes ranging from “fibers to wearable technology to interior design” at ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, according to a statement put out by the University.
My immediate reaction upon hearing this news – besides excitement and FINALLY – was that I feared for ASU’s Business of Fashion. Part of its charm and intrigue was that fact that it was ASU’s only gate to the fashion industry. Couture in the Suburbs’ editor-in-chief, Lindsay and I, attended the club’s much-anticipated spring fashion show and spoke with club’s president, Madison Morrow about the club’s history and its future. Spoiler alert: the club will continue to grow alongside and in conjunction with the new fashion degree program.
“Our main goal is to connect members with local fashion professionals to build relationships and learn about all the unique careers fashion has to offer,” Morrow said of the club’s mission. “I am so excited about the new fashion program coming to ASU. We are so lucky to have Dennita help with the program,” she said in response to how BOF will stand next to the degree program. “I think that Business of Fashion can continue to grow as this program grows. I hope to have more fashion students involved in the club next year. Right now most of our members are business students so balancing out that group with more fashion students could really set our organization apart!” she added.
Basically, my understanding is this: ASU BOF is the O.G. fashion powerhouse at ASU, and the respect it’s garnered amongst its many club members and fellow student admirers (me included) is well-deserved and will sustain its presence on campus for years to come.
As far as its spring fashion show goes, I thought it was well-branded, beautifully decorated and audience-specific. The styles definitely catered to college students, which makes sense considering many of the clothes came from boutiques on Mill Ave.
I also really appreciated the club members’ outfits. It’s too often that you see event planners looking like total slobs. It’s understandable because they’re busy, but well-dressed planners make the event feel more put together and special.
As it goes with student-ran events, however, there were a few areas that could use some improvement. Nothing in the event was terrible – seriously; but, if I were to critique it, I’d say the biggest distraction were the models!
A few of the models looked downright sad on their walks, and it was clearly unintentional. There wasn’t any sad background music playing – they just looked strangely sad, no other way to put it. I will say in terms of the music – I felt like there were too many slow songs. Perhaps this was to draw the show out longer (the actual runway show lasted about 20 minutes), but I would’ve appreciated a few pump-up springtime songs.
Lastly, one model SPOKE on the runway! It wasn’t audible, but as she positioned herself at the start of the runway and looked for her queue to go, she clearly missed the queue and mouthed a very obvious “Oh!”
Look – I know the models are student models, so it’s not a big deal, but I truly believe the BOF members push their limits to create professional events and want to be recognized for putting on an amazing fashion show, NOT for putting on an amazing student fashion show. They want to be GOOD, not just good for a college club.
Lucky for the club members, the BOF president and leadership heads care a great deal and have what it takes to be jaw-dropping amazing. I have no doubt in my mind they’ll continue to improve. They already impress me on a regular basis, and I’m so excited to see where they go, especially next semester with the new fashion degree program.
